Albus Potter: Year One
by NewDirection394
Summary: Albus has started Hogwarts but he soon discovers that something else is going on. Death eaters are returning and Albus is the only one who could stop them from creating a powerful, evil army. Rating because I'm paranoid.


**A/N: This is the first Fanfiction I've ever written so please let me know what you think of it. I know it seems slow and boring but I promise I have action planned. **

**Chapter 1**

"Come on James you don't want to be running at the last minute, like last year," Ginny yelled up the stairs. James stuck his head out his bedroom door and yelled "Coming."

It was nineteen years after the finale battle and everyone was rushing around in the Potter house. Albus shouted from his room "Dad I can't find my sugar quills!"

"Check your dresser again," Harry yelled to Albus. "Thanks, Dad." A few seconds later there was a loud scrapping noise followed by heavy thumps.

"James, don't drag your suitcase, you'll wreck the floor and the suitcase" the thumps immediately stopped for a few seconds and Ginny shot a nervous glance at the clock. All of a sudden the thumping sound returned but much louder and faster followed by an earsplitting scream from Lily.

"James, what happened?" Ginny yelled running to the bottom of the stairs where the scream and thumps had come from. She sounded very concerned but there was still a hint of exasperation and annoyance.

She rounded a corner to see James lying on the ground next to Lily. James's trunk and some of its contents, which included nosebleed nougat, Canary Creams, Edible Dark Marks, Extendable Ears, Headless Hats, Patented Daydream Charms, Portable Swamp, Punching telescopes, and Skiving Snackboxes were spread over the floor.

"Are you okay, Lily?" Ginny said hurrying over.

"Fine, Mum," Lily said getting up and rubbing her arm.

James quickly started grabbing all of the items he had gotten from his Uncles joke shop over the summer and threw them back into his trunk. Ginny gave an exasperated sigh before pulling out her wand and pointing it at James's Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products. They all flew back into his trunk.

"Thanks mum," James muttered as he continued, this time carrying his trunk. He headed out the front door to the car where his father was waiting to help load there things in the car.

Albus had been watching the scene from the top of the stairs. Now that the stairs were clear he rushed down the stairs as fast as he could and out to the car.

"Here dad" Albus said handing his trunk to his father who put it in the back of their magically expanded car right next to James's. Albus slid into the back seat where James was and looked up at the house. It was going to be Albus's first year at Hogwarts and couldn't wait. He had been thinking about something the James had been annoying him about all summer, what house he would be in. What if he was placed in Slytherin? His thoughts were interrupted by his mother and sister coming out of the house.

"Mom, please let me go to Hogwarts. I'm almost old enough and I don't want to be left at home!" Lily whined "It's going to be so boring without anyone to play with!"

"Lily, I've told you, you won't be alone. Hugo will be coming over at least once a week and Sarah from down the street can come over whenever you want. Any way it's only two more years till you'll be going to Hogwarts as well," Ginny told Lily as she put Albus and James's owls in the car while sliding into the passenger's seat.

"Everyone buckled in" Harry asked looking into the mirror back at his kids.

"Yeah dad" James said as he was fiddling with a joke product.

Albus watched the house as they drove away. It was a four story, cream colored house. It looked miraculously out of place in the small town filled with muggles in one or two story houses. The house wasn't just twice as big as most of the house but it also had very odd objects and creatures in the yard. There were a few gnomes in the back yard which were hidden from the neighbors by a very wooden fence. There were also a couple of brooms lying in the backyard with strange names like lightning bolt 2003 inscribed on them. If you went into the house you would find sweets scattered around that look pretty normal but if you add them you could find your tongue growing uncontrollably or your hair changing color. Though if continued around the house you would find two rooms that appeared to have been occupied for a while but were recently emptied.

Albus looked ahead to see that his dad was driving at least 100 mph, and driving in a different line almost every second or so.

"It's 10:15. We should be there around 10:40, which will give us enough time to get you and all your things on the train," Ginny said sighing and noticeably loosening up a bit. The ride was pretty smooth even though with how fast they were going.

"Hey Al, you'll need to tell me what the Slytherin common room looks like tomorrow." James said looking over to him with a huge smile on his face as he looked his younger brother.

"I will not be in Slytherin!" Albus shouted at James. He had been teasing him all morning about it which was the reason Albus accidentally light the couch on fire.

"Al there is nothing wrong with being in Slytherin," his father said "James don't annoy your brother. We only have 10 minutes left try not to fight."

What would happen if he was placed in Slytherin? He would be the only one in his whole family to be a Slytherin. He would be all alone at the house table and in the common room. He would have to watch the rest of his family enjoy themselves at the Gryffindor table. He had been trying to talk to his dad privately all morning to tell him about his fear of being a Slytherin but wasn't able to get to talk to his father on his own.

He snapped out of his thoughts to see them pulling in at King's Cross Station. Albus had been here a couple of times before. He had been there to drop off and pick up his brother from Hogwarts but the only time he was on a train here was to go to his Uncle Charlie's house using the train on platform 7 1/2.

His brother jumped out of the car as soon as he could and ran to the back of the car where he yanked his trunk out all before anyone else even got out. Albus got out and went around to the back to where his dad had gotten trolleys and was starting to lift Albus's things onto it. As soon as everything and everyone was out of the car they started walking towards the building while James was running ahead looking over his shoulder with another huge smile. Albus looked up at him parents and saw they were smiling back at him.

Once they were inside Lily looked up at her father with tears running down her cheeks. This would be the first year she would be all alone and wasn't taking it well at all.

"It won't be long now, and you'll be going too," Her father said looking down at her with a little smile.  
"Two years," Lily complained. "I want to go now!"  
"You'll probably be in Slytherin" James whispered to his brother

"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!"  
"James, give it a rest!" Ginny Said looking away from the commuters she was talking to about the owls. Muggles aren't exactly used to seeing owls as pets.  
"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at his younger brother. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth—"  
Ginny give James a look that could stop a dragon which immediately made James quiet. As they neared the barrier he looked over his shoulder, gave Albus a huge smile ran right into the wall in between platforms nine and ten.  
"You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked his parents nervously looking over his shoulder to make sure his brother wasn't there.  
"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny smiling at her youngest son.  
"Not every day," said Albus hurriedly. "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."  
"We wrote to James three times a week last year," Ginny replied.  
"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry added smiling with a chuckle. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

Harry but a hand on his son's shoulder and the other on the trolley, together they ran through the wall. Albus closed his eye a second away from the wall. As soon as they slowed down, Albus opened his eyes to see a gleaming train with golden letters on it that read Hogwarts Express. Albus looked around the platform to see that James was nowhere in sight.

"Where are they?" Albus asked his parents looking up at them to see they were looking around the platform as well.  
"We'll find them," said Ginny comfortingly.  
The only problem was the smoke was thick so Albus could barely make out anybody's faces.

Harry thought he heard Percy discussing broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello.  
"I think that's them, Al," said Ginny abruptly.  
A group of four people were standing near the end of the train talking. Albus could only tell it was them when he, his parents, and lily got closer to the group.  
"Hi," Albus said relieved.  
Rose was already in her Hogwarts robes and was smiling at Albus.  
"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."  
"No, I didn't," Hermione said, "I had complete faith in you."  
"As a matter of fact, I did Confund him," Ron whispered to Harry, as they lifted Albus's trunk and owl onto the train. "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."  
Back on the platform, they found Lily and Hugo having a discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.  
"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Ron, "but no pressure."  
"Ron!"  
Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus and Rose looked serious.  
"He doesn't mean it," said Hermione and Ginny reassuringly, but Ron wasn't paying attention anymore. Catching Harry's eye, he nodded to a point about fifty yards away. The steam had thinned a bit, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.  
"Look who it is."  
Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned  
up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasized the pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny staring at him, nodded briskly, and turned away again.  
"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains." Albus and Rose were standing on tip-toe to try and see over the heads of all the people to see what their parents were looking at though it was to no avail.  
"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"  
"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."  
"Hey!"  
James had reappeared; he had separated himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.  
"Teddy's back there," he said eagerly, pointing back over his shoulder into the rising clouds of steam. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"  
He looked up at the adults, evidently dissatisfied by the lack of reaction. "Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing—"  
"You interrupted them?" said Ginny. "You are so like Ron—"  
"—and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away! He's snogging her!" James added as though concerned he had not made himself clear.  
"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married," whispered Lily sarcastically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"  
"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"  
"Yeah!" said James eagerly. "I don't mind sharing a room with Al—Teddy could have my room!"  
"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."  
He checked the old watch on his hand from his mother-in-law.  
"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."  
"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him.  
"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"  
"But you know Neville!—"  
James rolled his eyes.  
"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love. . . . "  
Shaking his head at his mother's idiocy, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Albus.  
"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."  
"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"  
But James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a brief hug, and then leapt onto the quickly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the hallway to find his friends.  
"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."  
Ginny kissed Albus good-bye.  
"See you at Christmas."  
"Bye, Al," said Harry as his son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."  
"What if I'm in Slytherin?"  
The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.  
Harry crouched down so that Albus's face was slightly above his own. Alone of Harry's three children, Albus had inherited Lily's eyes.  
"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."  
"But just say—"  
"—then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."  
"Really?"  
"It did for me," said Harry.  
He had never told any of his children that before, and he saw the wonder in Albus's face when he said it. But now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents were swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders. Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned towards Harry.  
"Why are they staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.  
"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me. I'm extremely famous."  
Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed. The train began to move, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Harry kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his son glide away from him...


End file.
